Milos Raonic effectively had two opponents in his second round match; Fernando Verdasco and the lower back spasms that have been troubling him in recent weeks. He fought through both to move on to the third round at the 2015 US Open. Three times during the match the Canadian received on court treatment, and was clearly in pain at times during play. He managed to win the match despite the physical issues—his fourth over the Spaniard in their seventh career meeting. All Raonic's wins has come on hard courts and all Verdasco's have come on clay. 

Raonic races through the first set

Coming into this match, fans were concerned about the tenth seed's back issues, as he had not practiced the day before. However, he told reporters that it felt fine, and it certainly looked fine early in his match on the soon-to-be-gone Grandstand in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Raonic clearly had the crowd support early, with a strong Canadian contingent of fans in attendance at Flushing Meadows.

Verdasco, a two-time US Open quarterfinalist, won the coin toss and chose to serve first. He lost the first point and Raonic, the favourite in the match, quickly had two break points, which was a fantastic start for a man known much more for his serve than his return game. He converted the first and had three more in the unseeded Spaniard's second service game, though he was unable to convert those or his break points in Verdasco's next service game.

Six games into the match, the Thornhill, Ontario native had had break points in every return game and had yet to face any on his own serve. He lead four games to two. In the next game he broke again, effectively winning the set since he was holding serve so easily. His second break came from coming forward to the net and playing two nice overhead shots. The world number ten won the set in the next game with yet another easy hold. 

Raonic's strong play continues

The second set began with many fans looking over from Louis Armstrong Stadium and several fairly routine service holds from both players. On serve at three games to four, Raonic called for a medical timeout on the changeover. He laid on the ground wincing as the tournament trainer massaged his lower back, causing concern for onlookers.

When play restarted, he fired an ace on his way to holding at love, showing that whatever pain he was in was not going to effect his service game very badly. In the next game, his unseeded opponent double faulted on the first break point of the set, giving the Canadian a chance to serve for a two sets to love lead, which he did without trouble. 

Back issues continue

The third set featured zero break points for either player, setting the stage for the first of two tiebreaks. Before that point, Raonic served a 136 mph ace—not as fast as the string of 140 mph serves he fired against Tim Smyczek, but the fastest serve of the match at that point. He held comfortably throughout the set, including to love several times, but struggled to make as much headway on lefty Verdasco's serve as he was earlier on.

In the fourth game, he seemed to have over-extended on a shot, crouching down in obvious pain. The world number ten followed that with another big serve, at 133 mph. He looked increasingly uncomfortable moving around, and called for the trainer a second time to work on his back. In the tiebreaker, Raonic started strongly, getting a mini-break on the first point, but Verdasco came back and took it seven to five to extend the match. 

Raonic fights through

The unforced errors increased for the crowd favourite as his back issues grew worse, but the key for him was that he was still hitting lots of winners and serving big. Both players held serve for the entire set, though unlike the third, it did include break points. It also included another visit with the trainer for Raonic, this time officially for his leg. Players are only allowed two visits from the trainer at changeovers for each issue, but Raonic also had his back massaged during this MTO. At the same time the Spaniard waited for three rackets that he had asked to be strung one hour earlier.

Apparently they could not find the rackets, which were in his locker, and had not thought to ask him where they were until that point. Needless to say, he was very frustrated. Verdasco finally had break points in the 40th game of the match, but his opponent manages to save all of them and win the game after several deuces. 

Just like the previous set, a tiebreak was needed, and just like the previous tiebreak, Raonic went ahead early with a mini-break. Unlike that tiebreak, however, the man whose infamous hair has four twitter accounts consolidated that mini-break and eventually won it seven to one. 

How does Raonic's hair stay First-Communion-ready through a match like this???

— Dan Pecchenino (@danwritesthings) September 2, 2015

This #Raonic guy has the best hair in tennis and it's not close. #USOpen2015

— Baum (@Baumbot) September 2, 2015

Raonic's hair game is on point. CR7 level.

— Raymond Summerlin (@RMSummerlin) September 2, 2015 

He and his hair will take on Feliciano Lopez, another lefty Spaniard, in the third round. Lopez has beaten Raonic before, including at the Cincinnati Open this summer, but Raonic believes he is playing better this week than he was then. He says that he plans to practice tomorrow despite his back issues.